This school year, 3 Iditarod Traveling Quilts are traveling from classroom to classroom around the world. Follow the journey of the Traveling Quilts.
Learn about the history of the Traveling Quilts. Click here.
Traveling Quilt One: From Arizona to Florida….
Hello!
Quilt came to us in August. But as most school year beginnings go, ours was a little hectic for everyone getting used to a new grade level (both teacher and students), new schedules, and new people. So, Quilt waited patiently.
Quilt’s visit was planned for September. Regardless of when I thought Quilt would be part of my class – it had to be September. This is why: on September 13, one of the 8th graders at our school took her life. Being a small community familiar with each other, we suffered the grief and shock of it deeply.
So, I lay Quilt out on the table and we spent an entire class period reading the messages and talking about their meanings. I can tell you, the students thought very seriously about messages such as “Don’t let the sun set on your dreams.” and “Hang on to the sled. It’s bound to get better.” These took on a whole new meaning in the aftermath of the loss of our young friend. My desire was for them to see that with perseverance, faith the plan for their lives would unfold and every day is a precious gift.
Also, we were preparing to go off to northern Arizona for a three day 6th grade Outdoor Education camp for team building and self-confidence training. It can be a scary time for some of the kids.
I typed out the messages on Quilt’s squares and had each student draw one from a cup. I asked them to write a paragraph with these guidelines:
- Tell what the message means to you.
- Tell how this message can apply to your life this year.
- Tell how you might be able to apply this to your Outdoor Ed experience.
Student examples:
“Whatever actions you show that’s what people will think of you. So if you act like a leader, people will consider you a leader.”
“That phrase means that when you have reached the end of your journey, it’s what you did to finish your journey that counts.”
“It could help me to dream big and never stop trying. Also by giving me strength to make my work, homework, etc. to the best of my ability. If I get scared or stuck, I will think of it and I will keep trying. I will keep trying and never give up on my dream.”
“You have to set goals and when you make those, set harder ones. If you take life one step at a time, you will do amazing things in life.”
“This means don’t be afraid to show your personality and be who you are. I believe that God has made me the way I am and He didn’t intend for me to be like someone else. Never think that people won’t like you for who you are and always be yourself.”
“It is to accomplish or finish what you start. Keep going at it and don’t give up on what you think you can do. Just because you think it might be too hard don’t stop trying.”
“It means to always look forward and keep your mind on the positive things in life.”
“No matter if you reach your goal or not, you will always find something on the way.”
“Goals are like the finish line. You keep working and pushing till you reach them.”
Quilt came to us with a purpose we didn’t even know of, but which was made plain to us as we read, talked, and wrote. Thanks, Quilt, for helping us through some hard and challenging times.
Like the mushers of the Iditarod – through hard and challenging times.
Wag more, bark less,
Jane Blaile and 6th grade, Arizona
Quilt flew to Florida…..
Hello from Florida!
This year our school has integrated a theme of both the Iditarod and Character Education. This October while we had the Traveling Quilt, we focused in on Bullying. There was recent legislation passed in our state called the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up to Bullying Act. We wanted the students to take an active role in this new legislation by actually writing their own student pledge about bullying. Well, they did, and the Traveling Quilt was at the heart of it.
I created a plan at the beginning of the summer called Champs Rule! as a way to integrate staff development, character education, and a total Iditarod theme. The words Champs Rule is both an acronym and a reminder to teachers to utilize the CHAMPs philosophy. There will be a greater explanation of this in my application. The letter A stands for acceptance.
Here is a chronology of how the Quilt helped our students and parents come together in the name of acceptance.
The Quilt first appeared on the night of our annual Pasta with the Principal. It was placed on the stage in the cafeteria, and in the candlelight it was really beautiful. I shared with the parents our involvement with the Iditarod and let them know that the students would be learning about teamwork this month and need for acceptance. They learned that on a dog sled team, 16 different personalities all have to work together to bring their musher to Nome.
The Quilt stayed on the stage for two weeks after that. During that time, Journalism students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students met several times in the cafeteria during first hour to work on an anti-bullying student pledge. I facilitated this group of 62 students as they worked together to word and format the pledge. We wanted them to take total ownership of the process, writing, revising, and publishing of the pledge. The Quilt was our reference point throughout the process. The Iditarod came to represent the importance of acceptance if students are to finish the race for their education. The Quilt is the perfect example of acceptance and cooperation among many schools, educators, and students.
After the pledge was completed, student representatives brought the pledge to their class to solicit students to sign the pledge. The Quilt traveled to many classrooms. The students were responsible for the displaying of the Quilt, the explaining of the process and its relationship to the Quilt, and the procuring of signatures for the student pledge. I have included a picture of the Quilt in a classroom with the student representatives who are introducing the Quilt to the class and explaining the pledge.
[SinglePic not found]By the time it made its rounds, it was time for the Quilt to move on to its next school, but we hadn’t made the scrapbook page or our Quilt panel. My creativity was put to the test. I asked the students to take as many pictures as possible with the Quilt as they went from class to class. I used those and put together a page for the scrapbook. The Quilt panel was a “no brainer” because we simply recreated our school’s Champs Rule! theme. To that we added a reference to Dogsong, a book that our Literature Circle group is reading, which was “Sing Your Own Song.” We felt this appropriate to honor this year’s current Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail, Cathy Walters.
So now the Quilt is traveling again; however, its short time in Pompano Beach, FL, has left an indelible mark on the students who helped create our school’s anti-bullying student pledge.
Sincerely,
Linda Kal Sander
Reading Coach, Pompano Beach Middle School
Stay tuned for the next update as Quilt 1 continues to another school in Florida…. and then ….. off to North Carolina.
